This & That August / September

 

My first in-person race in two years!
Only a 7K, but hot and struggled after not running for about 4 months - !

Nora learning electric bass.

Someone found some lipstick!

Driveway art!

Foam Rolling

My friend, Maren and I! Friends since 1999!

Just like college when I was the 3rd wheel then too!

Tim went to Colorado for a quick 3-day trip with a friend to visit a third friend. Meanwhile, I wanted to attend a music festival in Lexington - Railbird - to see my favorite band, My Morning Jacket. However it was 90 degrees, half the staff failed their COVID tests, and the festival was not equipped with enough water bottle stations. We probably spent most of our time waiting in lines to just get water - it was bad. I guess the day was worth it to see my favorite band, and the festival organizers sure learned a lot too! WATER, WATER, WATER.

Hannah Turns 7!

 Thankfully Hannah’s birthday is late summer so we were able to manage an outdoor celebration with some good friends. And we may have even invited our adult friends so we could enjoy ourselves equally!

We have a local ice cream truck, Sticky Fingers, that you can book to arrive and you pay for all the kids’ (and adults’) ice cream via Venmo! So easy and fun!

Beginning of School Snags: Part 2

 The next hurdles of the start of the school year was the COVID virus and the school setting. While I was happy the school implemented masking for K-6, masks are not worn at lunch and optional in the hallways and recess. 

Additionally, through word of mouth I heard parents were sending sick kids into school or sending kids into school when someone in the household tested positive. What is wrong with people?

The masks were not implemented until after Open House. I was disappointed we were one of maybe three families masking in the building. Three days after the start of school, Hannah’s teacher tested positive. Then her aide was out sick with flu symptoms, not COVID. Then within the next week, approximately FOUR kids in her class tested positive too. 

We got two courtesy calls that Hannah was near a classmate who tested positive, but in the length of time deemed to quarantine. Sigh. 

The start of school was super inconsistent. 

Ultimately just after 10 days of school, Hannah’s class went remote for the week before Labor Day. It was kind of stressful, but I’m thankful Tim and I can work from home. However, I’ve stressed this before - kids with disabilities have to be in the classroom. 

Tim and I are parents, not teachers. Hannah does not listen to us in the same way and it was a struggle to get her work done. We had to spread it across the day. She did not have the attention or focus for the Zoom calls. I focused on one day at a time! 

Now we’re a month in an it seems the positive cases are slowing down for now and glad for some more consistency. 

Beginning of School Snags: Part 1

We finally made it - first day of school for 2021-2022; 4th and 1st grade. 

We tried to keep teaching Hannah how to wear her mask, and it’s been going okay. I think peer modeling is our best bet as well as positive reenforcement. 

We hit a snag on Day 1. We played with what to do for transport to and from school. We thought about having Tim take the girls to and from since he’s still working from home. But Nora said she wanted to do Extended Day to see friends. 

Well, when I went to pick the girls up on Day 1, the caretakers (just every day volunteers) said the girls had a good day. One woman said she remembered Hannah from preschool. Well, as soon as we got outside, Nora started bawling. She claimed everyone was treating Hannah horribly. 

Nora managed to get out that the caregivers were treating Hannah like “any other kid.” Well, Nora, that’s what we want! But she said the adults were grabbing Hannah by the arm to direct her, “yelling” at Hannah to get off the stage. The kids sit at tables by grade and Hannah wanted to sit by her sister, so they constantly had to pick Hannah up and take her back to the 1st grade table. 

Nora said the other kids would make Hannah parrot words like “poop.” 

We realized Nora has hit a crossroads; she’s in school with her sister now with a new set of kids who haven’t met Hannah, or maybe anyone with Down syndrome. Nora was carrying the stress of people who didn’t know how to treat her and it really shook her. 

We weren’t prepared for this and it isn’t a situation to tell a child to “tough it out.” We don’t want Nora feeling the weight of having to protect her sister and be consistently stressed out - because Nora is not a chill person. We decided to pivot immediately to Parent Pickup/Drop off. Nora is much happier and now I can be more strategic about these situation and slowly coach Nora. 

I’m not mad at anyone... I think Nora was overwhelmed and most everyone in that room doesn’t know how to navigate/treat behaviors of those with DS. 

Cincinnati Children’s has a class for siblings of disability. I spoke with another DS Mom about this and it really helped her older daughter in this exact situation. Now I just need to coax Nora to attend. 

I immediately sent an “About Me” to the specials teachers (art, music, PE) as well as printed one out for Hannah’s classmates. A Mom reached out to me not even a day later to say thank you. 

Hannah is the only child with DS at her elementary, I’m not sure if there has been a student with DS in recent years. Education takes time...

Shower update - Finally!

 I have been waiting seven years for this... our primary shower is a nice little space with a skylight. However in the 80s, tile was way too popular. It may look interesting in a shower, but functionally it is a horrible choice. Do you know how much mold and mildew comes along with a shower filled with 1" tiles? Too much to keep up with. 

With the help of Tim’s firefighter brother-in-law who does tile on the side, we slowly made our way to a better shower. Multiple quarantines and vacations and a firefighting schedule drew it out, but we made it! Very happy with the results Big tiles = less grout : )